Automobile fender



Jian@ AUTOMOBI LE FENDER L. E. GOODVVlN AUTOMGBILE FENDER Filed July 18, 192.5 2 Sheets-Sheet 'VM ng c Ln/SET Patented Jan. 12, 1926.

Unirse STATES l 1,559,743 PATENT oie-Fics. 1

LEON E. GOODWN, OF PORTSMOUTH, NEW HAmrpnLiwn.

AUTOMOBILE FENDER.

Application led July 18, 1925. Serial No. 44,575.

The present invention relates to fenders' for automobiles, and more particularly to certain improvements hereinafter described.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fender of simplified construction which when folded or in normal position presents the appearance of a lbumper and does not detract from the general design ot Athe automobile, may be light in weight and yet of strong and durableconstruction, and one which may be manually tripped to swing into open position and lie close to the roadway to prevent persons and cbjectsstruck from passage beneath' the bumper and ,he vehicle.

Another' lobject of the invention is to provide a fender of such construction that it may be easily att-ached to a motor vehicle without changing or modifying the same and which may be secured in place by relatively 'few 'fastening devices, and a fender which does not interfere with the normal working oi' the front springs, steering mechanism and adjacent parts.

A further object is to' provide a fender with tripping -means so arranged that it may be operated by hand so t 111 the driver of the vehicle has his feet and che. hand ee to manipulate the brakes and other controls, and which requires but a momentary op@ 'ation to trip the :tender when the hand is fr'. ed.

for other use in the stopping and steering oi,

the vehicle.

The above and various other objects and advantages of vthis invention will in part be described in and in part understood from the following detailed description of the present preferred embodiment, the same be ing illustrate-d in the accompanying dra'wings, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary top plan view of a motor vehicle chassis having a .bumper constructed 4according to the present invention applied thereto, the bumper being shown in open or tripped position. v

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, parts bein shown in section.'

of the back 19 is Fig. 3 is a similar view showing the bumperhin folded or running position.

Figa is a front elevation ofthe bumper applied toy a vehicle, the bumper being tripped.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view through a portion of the bumper frame in tripped position and y Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view through a portion of thebumper trame, showing the tripping latch and adjacent parts in folded position.

Referring -to the drawings -10 designates the frame of an automobile provided with a front axle 11 and the usual springs 12.

The front axle carries the road steering wheels 13 which have their upper portions covered by the mud guards 14.;

The fender comprises a pair of side bars 15 which are arranged to extend across the underside ot the axle 11 and which have upturned spring arms 16 pivoted by shackles 17 "to the frame 10. The intermediate portions of the bars A15 are adapted to be secured to the axle 11 by clips 18 or the like to rigidi fasten the fender frame to the axle. T e forward ends of the bars 15 pivotally support a back 19 which is in the form of an open frame with a preferably crossed wire filler 20, the wires-ot which may be connected at their ends by s 21 with the frame 19. The pivota forthe back 19 is shown at 22, and i provided at oppoait with braces 23 wg 4ich are pivoted at fixed vertical braces 25v in the baci-: 'Zi'.l, and which extend rearwardly and downwardly therefromto the side bars 15, when the back 19 is swung into'raised position.

The rear ends of the braces 23 are iongi- J tudinally slotted as shown at 25 and receive therethrough pins 27 which project inwardly from the bars 15 to en age the forward ends of the slots 26 and hold the back 19 in upright position. One or more springs 28 are connected to the back 19 abovethe braces 23 and extend rearwardly and are attached to a cross piece '29 which extends between the side bars 15 Vforwardly of the clips 18. The springs 28'normally urge the back 21 into upright position. The pivots 24 ofthe braces 23 may be provided with spacers-or the like so as to insure the cle-arance of the braces 23 23 past the pivots 22, of the side bars 15.

' |55 latching it 1in folde l comprises a latch The. lower ends of the side pieces ofthe back 194 are 'curved forwardly and are con- -nected by'. pivots 30 to the lowerV frame or bottom ofthe fender. This lower frame of. i the fender comprises a pair of side bars 31 which extend forwardly and rearwardly of -the pivots 30 and are connected at their rear ends by pivots 32 to hangar' bars 33 which are hinged at their upper ends by pivots 34 10. upontheupper side bars 15 rearwardly of l -th'epins 27. The side bars 15 may be' interbraced.` by a cross brace 35 which extends between the side bars and may be secured .thereto by the pivots 34. The forward ends ofthe lower side bars 31 are connected to a front rail 36 of suitable form and material for picking up the person or object coming into contact with the 'fender and which extends laterally beyond the bars 31 and is re- 2.0 inforced by forwardly diverging braces 37 which are riveted at 38 to the lower bars 31 near the pivots and which are suitably secured to the end portions of the front rail 36. As shown in Fig. 1, particularly, the 25 ends of the front rail 36 are rounded or curved rearwardly to deflect objects and to prevent the fender from interlocking with ,other vehicles or obstacles with which the fender may come in contact. The bottom or 50 lower frame may crossed wires 39 supported at their ends uponlcoil springs 40 connected to the bottom frame'.

The upper portion of the back 19 above the pivots 22 may be laterally extended as at u 41 to extend across the wheels 13 and thus revent persons and objects from coming into contact with the wheels. To fold the fender into closed position the upper portion of the back 19 is swung forwardly and downwardly about its pivots 22. The, hanger bars 33 are of a length substantially equal to the length of the back 19 below. the lpivots 22 so that the bottom, indicated generally at 31, may be raised flat up against the forward side of the back 19 and' remain substantially in parallelism with the side bars 15 at all times.v @he slots 26 are of sufficient length to permit the swinging of the back 19 down into the plane of the side bars 15. The forwardly curved lower ends of the back 19 offset the back upwardly when folded so as lto lie fiat on the bottom 31, as shown in Fig. 3. ,The fender is rovided with means for osition, and this means olt 42 mounted in a housing 43|,securedagainst the lower side of the cross piece 29 and which isy normally urged forwardlyby a sprin 44 in the housl'ing 43 to engage beneath lie cross bar35. The lower side of the latch bolt 42, at its nose, is bevelled so as to retract the bolt 43 asthe bottom of the fender is raised.

Various means may be employed for re- 65 tracting the latch bolt 42 but preferably n access by the operator.-

also be filled in with 'and releasable means l for;

pull wire 45 is employed and carried rear+ wardly and upwardly to the instrument board 46 of the vehicle and is attached to a pull handlel 47 conveniently A guide tube 48 is preferably placedabout the wire 45 and extends downwardly through the toe board 49 of the vehicle so as to protect the wire and maintain it comparatively taut under tension of` the latch spring 44.

To release the fender it is only necessary to draw. on the pull handle 47 suiliciently vto disengage the latch 42 from the cross 4bar 35. The hand of the operator may then be otherwise employed inthe control ofl the vehicle. As soon as the latch releases the cross bar 35, the springs 38 swing the back 19 into raised position and lower the bottom frame 31 and move it forwardlyso vas -to receive the person or object.

located for easy parent that when the front rail 36 strikes the person or object the bottom frame will swing backwardly under tension of the springs 28 andthe upper part of the back 19 will swing object so as to absorb the shock of impact and yieldingly receive the person or obJect.

It is of course understood that various changes and niodiications may be made in theJ details of construction and design of the abbve specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spiritthereof, such changes and modications the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A vehicle fender comprising a frame yadapted to be secured horizontally beneath .the vehicle and projecting forwardly therefrom, a back hinged to the forward end of said frame, a bottom hinged to the lower end of the back and extending rearwardly there: from beneath the frame, hanger bars pivotally connecting the rearr end of the ottom to said frame, spring means between the back and the frame for normally urging the back into raised position and the bottom into a lowered forward position, and releasable means for holding the bottom raised and the back in a forwardly swung position.

2. A vehicle fender comprisin a horizontal frame adapted to lie-secured neath the forward end of a vehicle, a back pivoted lbetween its upper and lower ends upon said frame, a bottom pivoted tothe lower end of the back, means for pivotally supporting. the bottom from said frame, said back being adapted to be swung forwardly to' raise the bottom and move the same, rearwardly, spring means for normallyl theback.

maintaining the bottom in. raised positlgr. 3. A vehicle fender lcomprising a .haine4 means for rigidly securing the frame-to the forward end of a vehicle, a back pivoted to beingrestricted only by the sco-pe of It l1s ap- 8 forwardly to catch the person or 9 said t ame, means for normally urging the back into raised position7 a bottom pivoted to the lower end of the back and to the rigid frame and normally urged to a lowered position by the back, and a releasable latch for normally maintaining the back in a lowered position and the bottom raised.

4. A vehicle tender comprising a frame tor attachment to the front or" a vehicle, a back pivoted to the frame, a bottom pivoted to the back and to theframe or raising and reti-acting the bottom upon the forward swinging of the back, means for normally urging the back into raised position, and a manually releasable latch on the frame for engaging the bottom and holding the samel in raised and retracted position.

A Vehicle fender comprising a horizontal frame having spring arms at its rear end, shackles on said spring arms for Connecting the same to a vehicle rearwardly of the front springs ot' the vehicle, clips for securing the frame to the axle of the vehicle, a back pivoted to the forward end of the iframe and extending below the same7 a bottom pivoted to the lower end of the back and extending vforwardly and rearwardly thereof, hanger bars pit'otally connected between the rear end of the bottom and said frame l'or raising and lowering the bottom upon the swinging of the back, braces between the bat-lt and the frame, means between the braces and the frame for arresting the rear-v ward movement or' the braces and permitting the free forward swinging thereof,

thereof, connections between the rear end of the bottom and said frame for holding the bottom in parallelism with the trameT a rail extending across the forward end of the bottomto receive impact, said bach' being adapted to be swung torif'ardly and -downwardly and said bottom being adapted to be raised thereby to bring the back into engagement with the top ot the bottom, spring means for urging the back into raised. posi tion, and a latch 'for releasable holding the back and bottom in folded position.

T. A vehicle tender comprising a traine :for attachment to the forward end of a vehicle,. ay baclt trame Apivoted to said irst trame, a bottom frame piyoted to the lower end of the baelrF trame and to said rst frame, spring supported crossed wire fillers carried in said bacl; and bottom frames, spring means for normally urging the baal; into raised position and the bottoni into lowered position, and means tor releasably holding the back and bottom in folded position.

LESS E. GOODWN. 

